CMU women host Buffalo Sunday, look to improve to 11-0 in MAC play

CMU junior Crystal Bradford became the first player in MAC history to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season on Thursday as she had 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in an 84-81 overtime victory at Ball State. (Sun photo by LISA YANICK-JONAITS/@lisayj_msun)

On Thursday night the CMU women’s basketball team overcame a 19-point second-half deficit to defeat host Ball State 84-81 in overtime.

The victory broke a 14-game losing streak at Ball State that dated back to 1998 all while pushing the Chippewas’ winning streak to 10 games, which is the third longest winning streak in school history.

Additionally junior Crystal Bradford became the first player in Mid-American Conference history and 39th player in Division I women’s basketball history to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season as she tallied 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory.

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That’s the tale of the tape heading into Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee against Buffalo, a team the Chippewas defeated 82-68 back on Jan. 12.

Buffalo (13-8, 6-4) comes in winners of six of its last seven MAC games after opening the conference season 0-3. The Bulls are in third place in the MAC East Division behind frontrunner Bowling Green (19-3, 9-1) and Akron (14-8, 8-3).

“They’re hot right now and you have to remember their leading scorer (Mackenzie Loesing) didn’t play in the two games prior to when we played them,” said CMU head coach Sue Guevara of the Bulls. “They’re a well-balanced team with good scorers and athleticism. They’re good in the half court and are going to want us to beat them from the outside. What we have to do is speed them up.”

Coming in the Chippewas (14-8, 10-0) sport the seventh-ranked scoring offense in the country as they average 84.5 points per game.

That said, the Bulls won’t want to get into a track meet with the hosts because it doesn’t play to their strength. During their recent run the Bulls have averaged 68 points per game while allowing 64 and have won some high-scoring a low-scoring games.

Ideally they would prefer a low-scoring game, but only Northern Illinois has been able to keep the Chippewas under 70 points in MAC play this season.

Defensively Buffalo leads the MAC in defensive field goal percentage (.356), blocks per game (4.9) and defensive rebounding (30 rpg) while CMU is first in scoring offense (84.5) and rebounding offense (45.2). CMU also ranks second in the MAC in offensive rebounds (16.3), field goal percentage (.427), 3-point field goal percentage (.352) and assists (15.7).

The Bulls are paced by sophomore guard Loesing as she averages 17.5 points and four rebounds per game while junior forward Kristen Sharkey averages 14.3 points and nine rebounds.

Bradford leads CMU with 19.9 points per game and 11.6 rebounds. She leads the MAC in rebounds per game and is third in points per game. Junior Jas’Mine Bracey has also come on of late as she tallied four straight double-doubles. She averages 11.7 points and is second in the MAC with 10 rebounds per game.

About the Author

Jim Lahde has been with The Morning Sun sports department since 1997 and has been its Sports Editor since 2006. The Wixom native has covered everything from Little League to the big leagues. Reach the author at jlahde@michigannewspapers.com
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